1) Yes, many filers repeat, and many do repeatedly. 2) You can file again, but you can’t get a second Ch. 7 discharge for 7 years. Other chapters don’t have similar restrictions.

It seems some of you are just howling at the moon. Humans adapt. If you don’t adapt to the current times, you will fail…..or file bankruptcy.

Many APPEAR to be living the high life Ted, but you must stay strong for you and your family. There will always be haves and have-nots. If your neighbor has a BMW and is in debt up to their hairline, look the other way. Don’t sit there and spin your wheels thinking about it as it will get you no where.

I always read how tough it is out there and then there is always the story about keeping up with the Joneses. Well what are the Joneses doing right? We all seem to be chasing people doing better than us, right? The doom and gloom stuff is just silly. Cuba has better medical choices? These type of absurd comments are just ridiculous and I feel that when discussing “bankruptcy” it is better to use a specific example of a person. Generalities, for the most part, keep people discussing on blogs on totally different pages.

Aside from medical emergencies and job loss among others, what about the vast spending I see going on each and every day. I went to a large mall two weeks ago and parked about 1000 spaces away (I am not kidding about that). People are buying coach bags, iPods, nice clothes, $100 headphones, $60 PS3 games, what about these people and there difficulties? I spend money there when I could have put that in an IRA or savings account. If I spend myself into a bankruptcy, please don’t shed a tear for me. Saver the tear for someone who had a perfect storm of disaster before filing a bankruptcy and there are many of those people out there, but by no means are they the vast majority.

It just isn’t true that everyone filing for bankruptcy has a sorry story. Many have over indulged and then lost their job and had a “nice run”.

We don’t cut your head off in the country when you file bankruptcy. We don’t take away your car, although you may need to switch wheels. We don’t take away the education you get at the public school or the air conditioning you get at your house.

TRUST ME. MILLIONS of smart families over seas would love to have the chances we have here (or in Cuba). You are finding it difficult to scrap by with a household income of $65,000 a year for a family of four? Someone would be living a DREAM, I repeat a DREAM making that and using all of the amazing things this couintry offers.

.985 ^ 20 = 0.739

That is, 739 of 1,000 families with kids will be able to live through those 20 years bankruptcy-free. The other 261 families will have filed bankruptcy at least once. Astonishing!

Somehow that number does not jive with intuition. Really? 26% of families file bankruptcy at least once in their child-rearing years? Maybe it’s because it’s such a stigma people are not telling. I just don’t know that many families who have filed bankruptcy.

For people who consume less, save money and have insurance, we can’t guarantee we won’t fall off the cliff if something bad happens to us. All we are doing is keeping some distance away from the edge.

You say “consume less” like that’s easy. Our whole US economy is dependent on consumption and is a force like a freight train bearing down at all times. People were recently guilted into spending their stimulus checks “for the good of the country.” What a bunch of bologna that is!

Nevertheless, we who don’t over consume are still one really bad thing (accident, extended job loss, death, economic troubles) from being on the edge. That’s the way it is these days.

(i believe i do live far below my means.)